Advertisement

Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan holds the record for most dot balls bowled in T20I cricket.

The spinner has bowled a record 922 dot balls in 106 innings while maintaining an economy rate of 6.82.

Shakib, who has the second-most wickets in T20I cricket history, is ahead of Tim Southee, who is second on this list for most dots bowled in T20 Internationals. The New Zealand pacer has bowled 907 dot balls in the 102 innings.

Southee has also bowled the second-highest number of dot balls inside powerplay overs in T20 Internationals with 434 dot balls in 80 innings where he bowled in the opening six overs of a 20-over game.

India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar is third on the list of most dot balls bowled in T20Is. The pacer has bowled 863 dot balls in 83 innings.

Furthermore, Bhuvneshwar is the first and only bowler to have bowled 500 dot balls inside powerplay overs. Speaking of most dots bowled in powerplay overs in a T20I fixture, Bhuvi (IND vs WI, 2014) was the second to register 16 dot balls in his spell during the first six overs of a 20-over game after South Africa’s Lonwabo Tsotsobe (PAK vs SA, 2013).

As far as most dot balls bowled in a T20I innings is concerned, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s best performance with the ball came against UAE in 2016, where he bowled 20 dot balls. 

He shares the Indian record for most dot balls bowled in a T20I innings with Ravindra Jadeja, who bowled 20 dot deliveries against Sri Lanka in 2016.

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi follows Bhuvneshwar on this list. Afridi’s economy rate of 6.63 is the best among the top five bowlers who have bowled the most dot balls in T20I cricket. The spinner is fourth with 830 dot balls in 97 innings.

Lasith Malinga completes the top five list of bowlers with the most dot balls bowled in T20I cricket. The Sri Lankan legend bid adieu to cricket in 2021 and bowled 713 dot balls in 83 innings in his T20I career.

Most dot balls bowled in T20I cricket

Player

Country

Innings

Dot Balls

Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh

106

922

Tim Southee

New Zealand

102

907

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

India

83

863

Shahid Afridi

Pakistan

97

830

Lasith Malinga

Sri Lanka

83

713

Mohammad Nabi

Afghanistan

97

702

Mustafizur Rahman

Bangladesh

77

701

Rashid Khan

Afghanistan

74

688

Shadab Khan

Pakistan

78

664

Adil Rashid

England

86

636

 

Featured photo: AFP / RANDY BROOKS

Advertisement